☘️The NYPD Pipes and Drums’ Line-Of-Duty Funeral:How an Irish-American Musical Rite Started & Spread

Please join members and friends of the Museum of Newport Irish History for the 1st talk of its 25th Annual Lecture Series with Dr. Scott Spencer, whose lecture is titled:
                  The NYPD Pipes and Drums’ Line-Of-Duty Funeral:
              How an Irish-American Musical Rite Started and Spread
 
The talk with Q&A to follow will be presented at 6:00 p.m. in-person at the Wyndham Newport Hotel and live-streamed via Zoom.

-Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
-Light hors d'oeuvres & cash bar available.

Reservations are required for both in-person and virtual participation:
- $10 per person fee to attend in person (cash or check @ door).
- Those who become members to attend this talk will have the $10 lecture fee waived.
- There is no fee to participate via Zoom.

CLICK to reserve IN-PERSON:  tinyurl.com/InPersonReserv
CLICK to participate via ZOOM:  tinyurl.com/ZoomReserv

Questions/Assistance with Reservations:
Please write Ann at NewportIrishHistory@gmail.com or phone (401) 841-5493.  Note: If you are hosting a group of 4 or more and would like to pay by card, please contact Ann at least 24 hours BEFORE the event to make arrangements. Cards not take at the door.

TALK OVERVIEW:
The sonic presence of bagpipes has become a ubiquitous and necessary aspect of line-of-duty funerals and 9/11 memorials, much like “Taps” in military ceremonies honoring fallen soldiers. But the direct line between Irish or Scottish musical traditions and recently invented traditions for those in public service is blurry or imagined.

This presentation will discuss areas in which the porous nature of Irish or Celtic identity – especially in musical settings – allows for a personal identification with the performed identity of a bagpipe band, regardless of one’s ethnicity or heritage, in moments of ceremony, memorialization, and pageantry.

With an eye to the material (bagpipes, kilts, balmorals) and an ear to the sonic spectacle (drone, marches, drums), this discussion will explore the changing nature of identity in this musical performance. The results will include a new perspective on how public traditions form and become vital to different groups of people; the role of performance in assembling and demonstrating heritage; and the importance of sonic spectacle in performing ethnicity and identity.

GUEST SPEAKER BIO:
Dr. Scott Spencer is an Assistant Professor of Musicology (World Music) at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, and a Fellow in the USC Society of Fellows in the Humanities. His latest book, Pipers for the Fallen: The NYPD Emerald Society Bagpipe Band, will be published in the Oxford University Press “American Musicspheres” series in the near future. This is Dr. Spencer's second talk for the Museum.

SERIES SPONSORS: For a list of our generous 25th Annual Lecture Series sponsors, please visit:  newportirishhistory.org/lectures/

ABOUT THE MUSEUM-Celebrating 30 years
The Museum of Newport Irish History, a volunteer-driven, non-profit 501c3 organization, was founded in 1996 and now boasts over 900 members. In addition to operating an Interpretive Center on Lower Thames Street, the organization sponsors numerous educational, cultural, social, and fundraising events throughout the year, including its popular Annual Lecture Series, now in its 25th season. The organization also restored and maintains the historic Barney Street Cemetery at the corner of Barney and Mt. Vernon Streets, steps from Washington Square. It is the final resting place of many of Newport’s earliest Irish residents. The cemetery was established to support Rhode Island’s first Roman Catholic parish, the forerunner of the current Saint Mary’s Church at the corner of Spring Street and Memorial Boulevard.

To learn more or to join the Museum, please visit NewportIrishHistory.org or write us at newportirishhistory@gmaiLcom

Photo Credit: 9/11 Memorial & Museum, photograph by Chris Goodney